The Russian government has claimed that ‘two unmanned aerial vehicles were aimed at the Kremlin. As a result of timely actions taken by the military and special services with the use of radar warfare systems, the vehicles were put out of action.’ There were, it continues, ‘no victims and material damage’, although it is considering it a ‘terrorist’ attempt to kill Putin. That said, unverified videos circulating on social media (which, of course, is not necessarily proof in the age of deep fakery), shows at least one drone hitting the Senate Building, one of the larger structures inside the Kremlin complex, starting a small fire.
Ukraine has been developing longer-range drones and getting closer to Moscow. In February, one was reportedly found near the town of Kolomna, approximately 100km southeast of the city, and last month one crashed about 30km to Moscow’s east. Nonetheless, to manage to reach what is meant to be one of the most heavily-defended cities in the world and hit the government’s very heart would demonstrate audacity, luck and capability.
After all, drones are generally slow and vulnerable weapons, and Moscow is ringed by radar systems and air defence missiles.
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